Red dead? Hydrogen Two canceled as company founder announces retirement

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Only months after Red’s Hydrogen Two smartphone was confirmed despite Hydrogen One’s failure, the follow-up Android handset has been declared dead in the water, with Red founder Jim Jannard announcing his retirement and the end of the Hydrogen project, as spotted by Ars Technica.

Having just turned 70, Jannard took to the company’s H4Vuser.net forums to make the announcement after 45 years working on Oakley and Red, citing health issues and age as the reasons for his well-earned retirement.

“I will be shutting down the HYDROGEN project, ending a career that has included Oakley, RED Digital Cinema and HYDROGEN,” said the company founder, further declaring that he’s “very proud to have worked with many great people over the years who have signed on to the vision”.

Red future

While Jannard promises “HYDROGEN One will continue to be supported in the future,” we wouldn’t hold out too much hope for that, with Ars Technica noting the phone’s last update as being released back in January 2019.

Jannard placed much of the Hydrogen One’s failure on an unnamed Chinese ODM (Original Design Manufacturer). Its follow-up, the now-defunct Hydrogen Two, was said to be designed in-house, with plans to manufacture “at a new ODM that is clearly more capable of building and supporting the product we (and our customers) demand”.